Emphatic Pause

If youre looking for a strong example of sincerity in public office, it may be advisable to conduct your search somewhere other than the borough mayors office.

In several instances over the past year, Mayor Darcie Salmon has behaved in a manner that leaves the integrity of his office in doubt and has been, frankly, embarrassing to watch. Take last summers meeting of the Knik-Fairview Community Council, for example.

Zoning was the hot topic on the table that night, and hundreds of area residents crammed into the gym of Knik-Goose Bay Elementary School to have their say about the issue.

Salmon, a resident of Settlers Bay subdivision just off Knik-Goose Bay Road, was there, too, like any other concerned citizen. Tempers were running hot, however, and Salmon perhaps swept up in the excitement of it all began banging the back of the seat before him, yelling at and egging on speakers who were critical of the community councils leadership.

When the time came for council members to vote, opponents of zoning raised their hands, including the mayor. A problem arose as I was photographing the event, however. I photographed dozens of people casting their vote, but when I aimed my camera at Salmon, the mayor told me, I wouldnt do that, Eric.

Do what? Photograph a public figure taking a stand on a volatile issue at a public event? Plenty of people seemed comfortable taking a public stand on an issue that was extremely important to them.

Evidently, the mayor was not comfortable about being publicly tied to the stance he chose to take on zoning.

But leaders must take a stand and, luckily, it was only a short time before he began to shed his discomfort over doing so in public.

About a month later, at another meeting of the Knik-Fairview Community Council, the mayor took the meeting as an opportunity to publicly criticize employees in the borough planning department.

Look at it in these terms: your boss is unhappy with the way you have done something. Without a doubt, it is her duty to talk to you about it, and let you know what the problem is in private.

Employees have a right to be treated respectfully, and no responsible person in a position of leadership is going to criticize or humiliate them in front of others.

If the mayor has problems with the work the planning department employees are doing, he needs to discuss it with them in the proper forum. Evidently, he does have problems with the work the department is doing, because he took yet another potshot at planning department employees recently.

After the assembly voted last week not to approve his two nominations for the borough planning commission, the mayor announced that the person he nominated understands zoning better than the planning department.

Thats saying a great deal when one considers all the degrees and cumulative years of experience walking the halls of the borough building.

Add to all this his highly audible sighs of boredom during assembly meetings which, admittedly, can be deathly dull; blowing his nose in the middle of public hearings, and his patronizing behavior toward those to whom he does not care to listen.

Should elected officials be held to higher standards of conduct? Salmon is only human after all, but borough residents should be able to expect their elected officers to maintain a minimum level of professional behavior. And some sincerity.

Eric Burkett is a Frontiersman reporter who covers the borough beat.